Solar apparatus.



H. E. WILLSIB.

SOLAR APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED mum, 1904.

1,1 30,871 A Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETSS HEET l 205 z If fi v H. E. WILLSIE.

SOLAR APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEB, 1904 1,1 30,871 I Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTEJR: fi "WU WT N15555:

H. E. WILLSIE.

SOLAR APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNES, 1904.

1,130,871. Patented Mar.9,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET S.

HENRY ELNER WILLSIE, 01 NEW YORK, N. Y.

SOLAR APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Application filed June 3, 1904. Scrial'No. 210,943.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, HENRY ELMER W SIE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SolarApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in solar apparatus in which heatfrom the sun is collected and stored by a circulated liquid.

The objects of my invention are, to provide meansfor concentrating thesu-ns rays, for circulating a liquid to absorb the heat of the rays, forstoring the solar heated liquid, and for regulating the concentratingand circulating devices. I attain these objects by the devices shown inthe accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the solar heat receiving compartmentand of the balancing device; Fig. 2, a diagrammatical plan view of theapparatus, with a part of the receiving compartment broken away to showthe construction; Fig. 3, an elevation diagram of the tanks and the pipeconnec tions; Fig. 4, a side view of the pivot of a support; Fig. 5, aview of the support and portions of the heater; Fig. 6, a sectional Viewof the regulator of the water flow; Fig. 7, a vertical section of awater heating trough; Fig. 8, a side view of the inclined position ofthe supports of the heat receiving compartment; Fig. 9, a verticalsection of the storage reservoir; Fig. 10-, a vertical cross sectionthrough the prism glass; Fig. 11, a vertical longitudinal sectionthrough the prism glass; Fig. 12, a vertical view of the reversing gearsin the focusing device clock work; Fig. 13,- a' vertical view of thependulum in the focusing device; Fig. 14, a plan view of the focusingdevice clock work.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the solar heat receiving compartment the liquid holding sheet irontroughs 20, 20 supported by the planks 21, 21 and the beams 22, 22 arecovered by sheets of glass 23, 23, supported by the beams 24, 24, andthe cross braces 24', 24. To these beams are attached the woodensupports 25, 25, by

The beams 28, 28 and 2,9, 29 support sheets of glass 30, 30, secured insashes 30' 30. The troughs, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, are made bysecuring rather close together two sheets of metal, 20. and 20 Thesidesof the lower sheet 20 are bent up and folded over the upper sheet 20* tomake a closed joint. Each trough is connected at its upper end to thedistributing pipe 57 by a. short pipe 57*; and at its lower end to thecollecting pipe 47 by a short pipe 47". Except these openings into theshort pipes the troughs form closed water tight containers. The sides ofthe heat receiving compartment are inclosed by double walls 31, 31, offlexibl'e material, as canvas, sheet rubber, or leather. The heatreceiving compartments should be made tight enough to prevent the escapeof air. One way to do this is indicated by the application of theasphalt cement 23 to the edges of the glass 23.

The sheets of glass, 30, 30, are cast or rolled with prism ridges on oneside, preferably on the under side. These prism ridges are formed: withdifferent angles so that the solar heat and light rays passing throughthe glass are brought to a focal line. This prism glass thus differsfrom the prism glass now in common use for refracting light into rooms.Fig. 10 shows a sheet of giass formed of two series of prisms so thatthere are two lines of focus. It is evident that there may be one ormore series of prisms inone sheet of glass; that the prisms may beeither on the lip-per or lower or on both sides of the glass sheet; thatseparate I prisms, or smaller sheets of glass with the 1 same refractiveangle, may be attached together, or secured in a frame, to secure thesame result; and that the retracting surfaces of each prism may becurved instead of plane. For brevity I' refer to such eont uct ns asline focusing lenses. As the ebject of the prism glass in this apparatusis to concentrate the solar heat rays upon the troughs 20, 20, to obtainhigher temperatures than can be obtained with plane glass the focal lineneed not be sharp, and may have a' width of from less than one inch tomore than four inches. The sharpness and the positions of the focallines will vary with the apparent motion of the sun. As shown in Fig/11,the focal line at 9 a. m. will be at the level 9, at noon at the level12, and at 3 p. m. at the level 3. As the level of the focal lines, ortheir distance above a predetermined plane as the troughs 20, 20, wouldvary with the seasons and the time of day the prism glass is raised orlowered so as to always have the focal lines upon the trou hs. Forinstance, as shown in Fig. 10, the prlsm glass which would be in theposition J in June at noon would be lowered to the position D inDecember at noon. And in June the prism glass would be in the position Donce in the forenoon and once in the afternoon. The

distance between the prism glass and the troughs is regulated by theclockwork shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14. The cables 32, 32, are securedto the beams 28,28 and to the shaft 33. The shaft 33 is attached. by thebearings 33*, 33 to the posts 34, 34. The cables 32, 32 are alsoattached to the balancing weight B and their ends secured "to the posts35, 35. The gear wheel 36 secured to the shaft 33 is driven throughtrain of gears 37, 37 by the car 38 which is secured to the shaft 39.shaft 39 and wound around it is the rope 40, which supports the weight41. The escapement wheel 42 is secured to the shaft 39 and the pendulum43 regulates its motion in the usual manner.- The reversing gear 44 andthe gears 37, 37 are pivoted in the forks of the-lever 45 which ispivoted on the shaft 39. To illustrate the operation of these devicesFig. 1 may be assumed to show the position of the prism glass at noon inJune. The clock work operating through the shaft 33 and the cables 32,32 lowers the prism glass so thatby 2 p. m. it may be in the positionshown in Fig. 8. Thus as the afternoon sun would raise the focal linesthe clock work lowers the prism glass so as to keep the focal lines uponthe troughs. In the forenoon the gear 44 is thrown into mesh and. theprism glass is raised until noon, when the gears 37, 37 are again throwninto mesh. In December at noon the prism glass will have its lowest noonposition. Fig. 8 may also be taken to show the relative position of theprism glass at noon in March and in September. Thus as the dailymovement of the prism glass is less in the winter months than in thesummer months the clockwork is regulated by means of the pendulum weight43 to run slower in winter than in summer. The position of the ttachedto the pendulum weight should be changed slightly each day. By means ofthis movement of the lass cover the amount of shadow, that won dotherwise be thrown on the bottoms of the troughs, is reduced andconsequently the amount of heat received isincreased. It is generallyunderstood that in constructions like solar heaters the heat from thesun. readily asses through the glass cover in the form 0 luminous rayswhich are changed by the substances within the heater into obscure raysthat can not readily pass back through the glass. Thus there is effectedan accumulation of heat within the heater, providing the insulation issufficient and the heat is not withdrawn. The temperature, but not thequantity, of such an accumulation is increased if the glass cover is alens focusing the rays upon some substance within the heater.

It is evident that the troughs 20, 20 may extend lengthwise east and.West, instead of north and south as shown, and that the widths of thetroughs then need not greatly exceed the widths of the lines of focus.-

The water in the troughs 20, 20 flows into the pipe 47 and through itinto the storage reservoir 48. The construction of this reservoir shouldbe such as to retain the heat in the. water. In the construction shownin Fig. 9 hollow glazed building blocks49, 49 are cemented together toform a liquid holding reservoir. The top is closed by lplanks, 50, 50,supported by beams, as 50*. Surrounding this reservoir is dry sand,ashes, or gravel, 51, which is surrounded by the casing 52 made ofasphalt or cement. This water tight casing 52 keeps moisture from thesand 51. The reservoir and casing have openings for the admission ofpipes. I

By opening the valve 53 in the pipe 53, which connects the reservoir 48with the vaporizing chamber 56, the heated water may flow over thevaporizing pipes 62 and give up heat to sulfur dioxid, or ammonia,

contained in the vaporizing pipes, and the vapor pressure thus obtainedmay be transformed into motion by a suitable motor. Or the heat maybeused for other purposes,

such as distilling sea water or sugar solu- I tions, or for dryingfruit. The liquid used is preferably water or a solution of calciumchlorid in water. p

The bottom of the vaporizing chamber 56 is connected by the pipe 55, thecentrifugal pump 54, and the pipe 63 to the tank 64,

which may be of the same construction as late the amount of waterflowing.

emp r tu eci t e h at receiving compartmea a regul tor s Pr vid d, Thisns pi a t ,5 Within wh c s apistor .593 with the packing 59?. The tubeis filled ith mercury 59" o the p t n 59? is tcured the valve 60 withthe opening 61. In

operation, as the temperature in the receivmg compartment increases themercury ex-' pands, pushes out the piston which more or less opens thevalve and thus allows more water to flow into the troughs. A lowering ofthe temperature in the heat receiving compartment reverses the operationso that no water is permitted to flow through the troughs when the sunis not shining. To regulate the amount of water flowing into thevaporizing chamber in order to"maintaina given temperature therein aregulating valve is provided, shown as 61, of simi-, lar constructionbut with the. opening .60 so adjusted in relation to the pipe 53 that alowering of the temperature permits more heated water to flow into thevaporizing chamber.

For long periods with little sunshine the auxiliary boiler 79 isprovided. This boiler may be any one of the well known types of steamboilers heated by the combustion of fuel. The steam from this boilerexhausts through the pipe 80 into the vaporizing chamber 56, or throughthe pi e 81 into the reservoir 48. Thus in case 0 necessity the steammay be exhausted continuously into the reservoir and the heat stored inthe wager until it is needed in the vaporizing chamer. My invention isnot restricted to the precise construction and arrangement shown. It maybe modified and rearranged without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

Having now described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is:

1. In a solar apparatus, the combination of 'a 'li uid container, linefocusing 'lenses, means or adjusting said lenses upon said liquidcontainer, a reservoir connected to said container and adapted to storeliquid heated in said container, and auxiliary means adapted to put heatfrom the combustion of fuel into said reservoir.

' from said reservoir.

3. In a solar apparatus, the combination with a solar heater adapted toheat a fluid circulated therein, a pump for circulating the fluidthrough said heater, thermostatic means for regulating the flow of fluidthrough said heater, and auxiliary means lenses.

gr -heating said fluid by the combustion of adapted to circulate aliquid through said container and said reservoir.

5. In a solar apparatus, a series of liquid containers inclosed in acompartment with a heat retaining bottom, flexible sides and a prismglass cover, said containers being provided with inlets and outlets forliquid.

6. A solar heater provided with a cover consisting of a series of linefocusing lenses adapted to focus solar rays upon substances within saidheater secured to parallel supports having a parallel motion for thefocusing of said lenses.

7. In a solar heater, a series of prisms adapted to concentrate bands ofvsolar rays upon substances within said heater, supports for' saidprisms having a parallel motion, and a time controlled mechanism adaptedto regulate said parallel motion.

8. In a solar apparatus, a series of fluid holding receptacles with heatretaining sides and bottoms and transparent covers adapted to permitsunshine to heat the contained fluid, a transverse distributingcontainer connected to said receptacles and adapted to flow fluid intosaid receptacles, and a transverse collectin' container connected tosaid receptacles an ed fluid from said receptacles.

9. In a solar apparatus, a solar heat re ceiving compartment inclosed byheat retaining sides and bottom and by a series of line focusing lensesadapted to focus solar rays upon substances within said compartadaptedto receive the heat-- ment, adjustable supports for said lenses.

and I means for adjusting the foci of said 10. In a solar apparatus, aseries of liquid holding troughs inclosed in a compartment having a heatretaining bottom, flexible sides and a cover of line focusing lensessecured to supports provided with a parallel motion, 7

said troughs having inlets and outlets for liquid.

11. In a solar apparatus, a liquid holding trough inclosed in acompartment having a heat retaining bottom, flexible sides and a coverof line focusing lenses secured to supports provided with a parallelmotion, said troughs having an inlet and an outlet for liquid.

12. In a solar apparatus, the combination of a solar heater, a storagereservoir for solar heated liquid, pipe connections between said heaterand said reservoir, a pump for circulating a liquid through said heaterand said reservoir, and thermostatic means temperature of the heater.

13. In a solar apparatus, a solar heat receiving compartment, areservoir for the:

storage of solar heated liquid, a passage for 'liquid between saidcompartment and said reservoir, a chamber wherein heatis taken from thesolar heated liquid, a passage for liquid between said reservoir andsaid chamber, a passe e for liquid between said chamber and saicompartment, means for regulating the flow of liquid in saidcompartment, means for regulating the flow of li uid into said chamberand means for c1rcliiating said liquid,

14. In a solar apparatus, a solar heat receiving compartment, storage ofsolar heated liquid, a passage fer liquid between said compartment andsaid reservoir, a chamber wherein heat is taken from the solar heatedliquid, a passage for liquid from said reservoir into said chamber, atank for storing the liquid from whiehthe heat has been taken, a passagefor hquid between said chamber and said tank, a passage for liquidbetween said tank and said compartment and means for circulating said liuid.

15. In a solar apparatus, a solar'heat receiving compartment, .areservoir for the storage of solar heated liqu1d, a passage for liquidbetween said compartment and said reservoir, a chamber wherein heat 1staken from the solar heated liquid, a passage for liquid from saidreservoir into said chamber, a tank for storing the liquid from whichthe heat has been taken, passages for hquid between said. chamber andsaid tank and between said tank and said compartment, means forregulating the fiow of liquid into said compartment, means forregulating the flow of liquid into said chamber, and means forcirculating said liquid. 1

16. In a solar apparatus, a solar heat re-,

ceiving compartment, a reservoir 'for the storage of solar heatedliquid, a passage for liquid between said compartment and saidreservoir, a chamber wherein heat 1s taken from the solar heated liquid,a passage for the liquid between the said reservoir and the saidchamber, a tank for storing the liquid from which heat has been taken,passages for the liquid between'said chamber and said tank and saidcompartment, a pump for transferring the liquid from said chamber tosaid tank, a thermostatic valve for regulating the flow of liquid fromsaid tank into said compartment and an automatic valve for regulatingthe flow of liquid from said reservoir into said chamber.

17. In a solar apparatus, a solar heat receiving compartment, arservoirfor the starage of solar heated liquid, a passage for liquid a reservoirfor the betweenflsaid-com a. sat and'said reservoir, a chamber w ere'heat is taken from the-solar heated liquid, a passa e for liquid betweensaid reservoir-"and sai chamber, a passagefor liquid between saidchamber and said compartment, means for circulating said liquid and anauxiliary steam boiler heated by the combustion of fuel connected by,steam pipes to said reservoir and to said chamber.

18. In a solar apparatus, a solar heat receiving compartment, areservoir for the storage'of solar heated liquid, a passa e for liquidbetween said compartment an said reservoir, a chamber wherein heat istaken means for introduclng heat from fuel com bustion into saidchamber,

19, Ina solar apparatus, M50181! heat==receiving compartment, areservoir for the storage of solar heated liquid, a chamber wherein heatis taken from said solar heated liquid, passages for liquid connectingsaid reservoir, compartment and chamber in. cycle, a*pump and means foroperatingv it adapted to circulate said liquid through said reservoir,chamber, compartment and passages, and auxiliary means for heating saidliquid by the combustion of fuel.

' 20.1n a solar apparatus, a series of fluid holding receptacles withheat retaining sides and bottoms and transparent covers adapted topermit sunshine to heat the contained fluid, a pump connected to saidreceptacles adapted to circulate a fluid through said receptacles, andmeans for regulating the flow of fluid through said receptacles accordinto the temperdture therein.

21. n a solar apparatus, a series of fluid holding inclined troughsprovided with transparent covers adapted to permit sunshine to heat acontained fluid, s'aid troughs being connected near the top of theincline and near the bottom. of the incline with transverse fluidholding troughs, and mechanical means adapted to aid the circulation offluid through said troughs.

22. In a solar apparatus, the combination of a reservoir adapted tocontain a solar heated liquid, a flatly extended liquid hold-- ingreceptacle, adapted to expose a liquid to solar heat and adaptedto flowby gravity a contained liquid, said reserwoir and said receptacle beingin communication, and a pump connected and adapted to supplement saidgravity flow and to complete the circulation. of liquid through saidreceptacle and said reservoir.

23. In a solar apparatus, the combination Signed at New York in thecounty of New of a flatly extended liquid holding receptacle York andState of New York this 25th day adapted to expose a contained liquid tosolar of May A. D. 1904.

heat, said liquid being inclined so as to flow HENRY ELMER WILLSIE. 6the liquid through it by gravity, and a pump Witnesses:

adaptedand connected to return the liquid WALTER Cox,

to the top of the inclined receptacle. I Enw. G. Cox.

